GIS Based Land Capability Classification for Agriculture the case of Gumay District, Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Main Article Content

Girma Alemu
Kenate Worku

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study was conducted in Gumay district of Jimma zone, in Oromia region, which is found in southwestern Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to develop GIS based land capability classification for agriculture which will assist land managers and land use planners in identifying land capability and areas with physical constraints for a range of nominated land uses for agriculture. Due to over exploitation and mismanagement of natural resources coupled with socio-economic factors, the problem of land degradation is on the rise. Accordingly, Gumay district selected through purposive sampling technique. GIS application has been used to match the land capability classification and different land quality parameters, like soil texture, depth, drainage, slope and stoniness under various land units were evaluated. Subsequently, all of them were integrated using ArcGIS10.1 application to generate land capability classification maps. Land capability maps for each land use were developed to illustrate the capability degrees and displayed the spatial representation of soil suitable for agriculture. Based on the result obtained from land capability classification; out of 40976 ha, 33.77% of the land in the district fall under class I; 39.67% categorized under class II; 7.65% fall under class III; 18.86% fall under class IV and only 0.05% of the land classified under class VI, which is not suitable for annual crop cultivation, and hence, should be under pasture, bush or tree cover. Accordingly, the land resource of Gumay district is more capable for annual crops cultivation. Keywords: Agriculture, GIS, Gumay, Land Capability Classification, Southwestern Ethiopia

Article Details

How to Cite
Alemu, G., & Worku, K. (1). GIS Based Land Capability Classification for Agriculture. Ethiopian Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 8(2), 1-9. Retrieved from https://journals.ju.edu.et/index.php/ejast/article/view/694
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Articles
Author Biographies

Girma Alemu, Jimma University, Ethiopia

Department of Geography and Environmental studies, Jimma University

Kenate Worku, Jimma University, Ethiopia

Department of Geography and Environmental studies, Jimma University